Age nothing but a number to Ted Neeley

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT - behind the scenes

The 63-year-old actor has portrayed Jesus in film and on Broadway for 33 years and says he has no plans to stop now.

October 31, 2006|By Rich Copley Mcclatchy Newspapers

As with any question about age, you want to broach the topic delicately.

Then Ted Neeley does it for you.

"To put this in the most humorous yet respectful light, when I first got involved in Superstar, I was one of the younger people in the cast," he says. "As we went on, I became a contemporary, and then a slight bit older. But I was always able to maintain a nice, youthful presence because, thank goodness, there was a nice gene pool from both my parents.

"Now, we're here doing this piece, and someone just reminded me the film of Jesus Christ Superstar is 33 years old."

33.

It's called the "Jesus year" because that's how old Jesus is thought to have been when he died.

Neeley played the title role in the movie. Now, at 63, he is 30 years older than Jesus was when he died, and he has been playing the part as long as Jesus is thought to have lived.

And he has been involved with the show longer than that, having first signed with Superstar as a supporting player and understudy for Jesus for the 1971 Broadway production.

"It's hard for me to say I am forever 33," Neeley says with a chuckle. "It just doesn't hold water anymore." But he is back in the white robe, on a Superstar tour.

Some people might question a 63-year-old Jesus, but age has given Neeley some perspective on the controversial piece.

The years have bolstered Neeley's opinion that Superstar is an affirmation of faith, not a barrier.

"I am more committed to the essence of this being now than when I was a youngster studying the Bible in small-town Texas," says Neeley. He says he looked to Nikos Kazantzakis' The Last Temptation of Christ for "an objective view of Jesus Christ as man" when he became involved with Superstar.

"I gotta tell you, once I started reading that, trying to be objective in my adaptation of that thought process into this character, that's when the ultimate respect took hold of me for this man called Jesus," Neeley says.

Asked about his own belief in Christ's divinity, Neeley says Superstar has "not shaken it in any way; it has only enriched it."

Neeley says he heard about this production being a farewell tour for him. "But I didn't get that memo.

"I have no desire to stop doing this particular show, but I am certainly at the place where I'm stretching it with the general public to think that they're going to continue to accept me addressing this piece. But as long as they will, I'm going to do it."